Multifunctional bottle-holder case

ABSTRACT

Multifunctional bottle-holder case, comprising a lid ( 11 ) provided with edges ( 14 ) and a containing frame ( 12 ) provided with walls ( 16 ) suitable to define a containing compartment ( 20 ) suitable to contain at least one bottle ( 21 ). At least one of said walls ( 16 ) and/or edges ( 14 ) is provided with at least one removable portion ( 25 ) associated with the corresponding wall ( 16 ) and/or the edge ( 14 ) by means of a connection zone with facilitated breakage ( 28 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a multifunctional bottle-holder case, inparticular a case which can be used both for storing, preserving andtransporting one or more bottles substantially closed inside the caseitself, and also to display them, for example in a domestic environmentor public premises, so that they are at least partly visible from theoutside.

Thanks to its conformation and geometry, and to the characteristics ithas, the bottle-holder case according to the present invention alsoallows to configure a modular display case in which a plurality of casescan be coupled together to make compositions of various shapes and sizesso as to create a sort of personalized cellar.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of cases is known, generally made of wood or materials similarto wood, but also of other materials such as glass, plastic, metal orsuitable alloys, such as aluminum or other, used to preserve andtransport bottles of various type, in particular those used for deliveryto commercial businesses or as gift packs.

Such cases are of various sizes, depending on the size and number ofbottles they have to contain.

One disadvantage of the cases conventionally used for bottles is that,once they have carried out their transport function and have reachedtheir final destination, they are waste material to be eliminated andare not usually reused.

Moreover, at the destination site, whether this be a domesticenvironment or public premises, the use of a suitable display case tostore the bottles and at the same time display them is often required,thus creating a sort of cellar which can be configured as desired.

Document DE 71 14 663 U describes a bottle-holder with a wall which iscompletely removable in order to access the inside. Also U.S. Pat. No.5,285,900 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,059 describe containers for bottles orcans which have removable parts of the lateral walls. In such solutions,the fact that the walls are removable is in no way connected with apossible function of the case as a display case.

One purpose of the present invention is therefore to overcome thedisadvantages of the state of the art, making a multifunctionalbottle-holder case, for example, but not only, of wood, which, after ithas carried out its primary function of transport, can be transformedinto a display module to display the bottles therein.

Another purpose is to make a display case which is adaptable to anyshape of bottle, and which can be put next to and stacked with othermodules of the same type, to create a stable and robust modular displaycase of various shapes and sizes.

Another purpose is to obtain said characteristics of multifunctionalitywith an economical solution, simple to make, which needs minimummodifications to the production cycle and production apparatus.

Another purpose is to reduce the quantity of waste, obtaining aconsiderable ecological advantage for the environment.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention toovercome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain theseand other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independentclaim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of theinvention or variants to the main inventive idea.

In accordance with the above purposes, a case according to the presentinvention is suitable to be used to store and transport one or morebottles, keeping them completely closed, and can be made in any shape orsize, and of any suitable material, for a variable number of bottles tobe contained.

Even though the following description deals mainly with parallelepipedshapes with a square or rectangular base, it is not excluded, even ifrarer, that the case may have a different shape, for examplecylindrical, oval, with a rhombus base, hexagonal etc.

In one embodiment of the invention, the case has a conventional shapeand structure, and comprises a closing element, for example a lid, and acontaining frame, in which the closing element can be hinged on one sideof the frame and can have one or more closing elements cooperating withthe opposite side of the frame.

The closing element, which can be either an upper lid or a lateralclosing, or even removable from below, consists of a flat part and has amore or less accentuated edge which extends toward the containing frame.The edge can be very thin, and may possibly only consist of thethickness of the covering element in the case where it consists of asimple covering panel.

The containing frame consists of a bottom and one or more walls,depending on the shape of the case.

Hereafter, based on the preferential shape with a parallelepiped shape,we shall speak of walls, but it is understood that also the cylindricalshape in which there is only one wall is comprised in the field ofprotection of the present application.

The bottom and the walls define a containing compartment, selectivelyclosable with the covering element, inside which at least one bottle canbe stored, advantageously two or more, separated from each other by atleast a possible separator element, so that when the case is used in thetransport step the bottles are prevented from knocking against eachother.

As will be seen hereafter, and according to a characteristic feature ofthe invention, the separator elements, when present, have a doublefunction, respectively a separating function adopted during transportand a containing and support function adopted during the use of the caseas a display case.

According to one characteristic of the present invention, at least oneof the walls of the case is provided with at least a removable portion,suitable to create an aperture for the through insertion of the bottleor bottles, after they have been removed from the case.

In one embodiment of the invention, the removable portion is connectedto the corresponding wall by means of a connection zone with facilitatedbreakage.

The removable portion can be removed, by the final user, for example bymeans of simple pressure, once the case has reached its finaldestination, so as to create an aperture on the wall itself.

In another embodiment of the invention, the removable portion is removeddirectly during the production step, and covered, when the case is usedfor transport, by a removable covering element, disposed inside oroutside the case itself and rendered temporarily solid to acorresponding wall of the case.

Since the removable portion, and therefore the aperture which derivesfrom it, has a size equal to at least the larger section of a bottlecontained in the case, the aperture can be used to insert the bottlepartly in the case, thus defining its function as display case.

In a possible and advantageous embodiment of the invention, theremovable portion has a shape and size correlated to the insertion of atleast two bottles.

The separator elements present inside the case also comprise apertureswhich, during use of the case as a display case, are aligned to theapertures obtained by removing the removable portion. In this way, thebottle or bottles can be inserted for the whole extension of the casethrough the apertures of the separator elements, which thus perform thefunction of housing and supporting the bottles in the display conditionof the case.

According to a further characteristic of the present invention, thereare attachment means on the frame and/or on the closing element and/oron at least part of the walls, which allow the reciprocal and selectiveattachment to other cases of the same type, so that each case assumesthe function of a display module for the creation of a sort of cellarhaving the desired shape and size.

Thanks to the attachment means, the cases can be put alongside, stackedand attached to each other, thus achieving a stable and robust modulardisplay case.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a preferential form ofembodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to theattached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional front view of a first preferential form ofembodiment of the bottle-holder case according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional back view of FIG. 1 in which the removableportion has been removed;

FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional front view of a second preferential formof embodiment of the bottle-holder case according to the presentinvention, double in size with respect to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional back view of FIG. 3 with removableportions still applied on the case;

FIG. 5 is a back view of the bottle-holder case of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 6 and 7 show variants of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a three-dimensional view of a group of cases.

DESCRIPTION OF TWO PREFERENTIAL FORMS OF EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a case 10 according to the presentinvention comprises a closing element, which in the case shown consistsof a lid 11, and a containing frame 12. In the example shown, the lid 11consists of a flat part 13 and four edges 14, respectively front edge 14a, back edge 14 b and side edges 14 c which extend toward the containingframe 12.

The containing frame 12 consists of a bottom 15 and walls 16,respectively front wall 16 a, back wall 16 b and side walls 16 c. Thewalls 16, with the bottom 15, define a containing compartment 20 intowhich, in this case, three bottles 21 are disposed, separated from eachother, in the case shown here as an example, by two separator elements22. The latter have the function of keeping the bottles 21 separateduring the transport step, preventing the bottles 21 from reciprocallyknocking against each other and breaking (separating function). Theseparator elements 22 are disposed, in the transport condition,substantially parallel to the back wall 16 b, and have a lengthsubstantially equal to the latter in order to allow them to be stablypositioned in suitable seatings made in the side walls 16 c of thecontaining compartment 20.

In the specific case shown, a removable portion 25, made in two parts,the first on the back wall 16 b and the other on the back edge 14 b ofthe case 10, is attached to the corresponding wall and the correspondingedge by means of a connection zone with facilitated breakage 28, which,when the final user exerts a certain pressure on it, and once the case10 has reached its destination, allows to remove the removable portion.

The aperture 30 defined by the removal of the removable portion 25 is atleast slightly bigger than the largest diameter of the bottles 21, andmay have different shapes, for example of the type shown in FIGS. 5, 6,7, for the insertion, from one side of the case, of one or more bottles21.

In the form of embodiment in FIG. 5, the removable portion 25 has anellipsoidal shape with intermediate narrower sections. It is howeverpossible to provide a removable portion 25 of a substantial ellipsoidalshape (FIG. 6), or several removable portions 25, for example of acircular shape (FIG. 7), through each of which a bottle 21 can beintroduced, as will be described hereafter.

Each of the separator elements 22 is provided with three apertures 23,substantially circular, through which the bottles 21 can be inserted inorder to house and support them (containing function), during thedisplay step.

The lid 11 and the containing frame 12 have attachment means for thereciprocal attachment to other cases 10 of the same type.

In a non-restrictive solution of the invention, the attachment meansconsist of holes 32, disposed in respectively mating positions in thecases 10, 110, which allow the insertion of screws, pins or otherauxiliary elements by means of which a plurality of cases 10, 110 can bestacked and made solid with each other so as to make a modularcomposition to function as a display case 40 or small cellar of variousshapes and sizes, as shown in FIG. 8 for example.

In the variant shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the case, indicated by thereference number 110, is suitable to contain and display six bottles 21.The back wall 16 b of the case 110 has removable portions 25 and the twoseparator elements 22 are provided with six apertures 23.

The case 10 can assume a first condition (transport step) in which thebottles 21 are disposed in the containing compartment 20 separated fromeach other by the separator elements 22.

When the transport step is finished, the case 10 can assume a secondcondition (display step), in which the bottles 21 are removed from thecontaining compartment 20 and it is provided to remove the removableportion or portions 25.

Afterwards the bottles 21 are reinserted into the containing compartment20, first through the aperture 30, defined by the removal of theremovable portion 25, and finally through the apertures 23, in order tobe housed and supported by the separator elements 22.

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made tothe case 10, 110 as described heretofore, without departing from thefield and scope of the present invention.

For example, in a solution not shown, the removable portions 25 arealready removed in the production step of the cases, and covered, whenthe case is used for transporting and preserving the bottles, bycovering elements, such as sheets of cardboard, plastic, wood or othersuitable material, provisionally made solid to a corresponding wall andeasily removable to make the case suitable for its function as a displaycase as described before.

1. Multifunctional bottle-holder case, suitable to be used to store andtransport bottles, comprising a closing element and a containing frame,said closing element including a flat part and having an edge, saidcontaining frame including a bottom and one or more walls, said bottomand said walls defining a containing compartment, selectively closable,characterized in that at least one of the walls and/or edge of the caseis provided with at least one removable portion having a size equal atleast to the largest section of a bottle contained in the case and inthat said removable portion is connected to the corresponding wall oredge by means of a connection zone with facilitated breakage.
 2. Case asin claim 1, characterized in that said removable portion is removedduring the production step and covered at least provisionally by acovering element temporarily associated with an inner or outer wall ofthe case.
 3. Case as in claim 1, characterized in that the removableportion has a shape and size correlated to the insertion of at least twobottles.
 4. Case as in claim 1, characterized in that the removableportion is removable from the corresponding wall by manual pressure. 5.Case as in any claim 1, further comprising a plurality of separatorelements, disposed during use in the containing compartment of the case,said separator elements including apertures which, when the case is inuse as a display device, are aligned with the apertures obtained byremoving the removable portion.
 6. Case as in claim 1, characterized inthat on the containing frame and/or on the closing element and/or on atleast part of the walls there are attachment means which allow thereciprocal and selective attachment of other cases of the same type. 7.Case as in claim 1, characterized in that said attachment means compriseholes able to receive screws, pins or other suitable attachmentelements.